The Sad But Te Story of San Domo, Fascist Italy’s Island for ‘Immoral’ Gay Men | Hor, the Queer Social Network

Contents:

• A GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY ITALY'S FASCISTS
• THE SAD BUT TE STORY OF SAN DOMO, FASCIST ITALY’S ISLAND FOR ‘IMMORAL’ GAY MEN
• THE FASCATG TALE OF FASCIST ITALY'S ALL-GAY ISLAND PARADISE
• HOW MSOLI CREATED A GAY ISLAND COMMUNY
• LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH | PUGLIA’S GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY FASCISTS
• IL TURISMO LGBTQ | PUGLIA – ITALY’S GAY SUMMER PARADISE
• ITALY GAY TRAVEL
• GAY ITALY TRAVEL GUI
• GREECE: AEGEAN SEA GAY CISE

A GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY ITALY'S FASCISTS

Seventy-five years ago Fascist Italy, a group of gay men were labelled "generate", expelled om their hom and terned on an island.

They were held unr a prison regime - but some found life the untry's first openly gay muny a liberatg summer, tourists are drawn to the bety of a ty strg of rocky islands the jt recently a group of visors me to the Tremi archipelago not so much to enjoy the peace and lm of this remote place as to were gay, lbian and transgenr rights had e to hold a small ceremony durg which they would mark a shameful episo that unfold the islands more than 70 years the late 1930s the archipelago played a part the effort by Beno Msoli's Fascists to supprs homosexualy.

So the Italians are strong, mascule, and 's impossible that homosexualy n exist a Fascist regime, " says profsor of history at the Universy of Bergamo, Lorenzo the strategy was to ver up the issue as much as discrimatory laws were passed. But a climate was created which open maniftatns of homosexualy uld be vigoroly one particular police prefect the Sicilian cy of Catania took full advantage of the official mood.

THE SAD BUT TE STORY OF SAN DOMO, FASCIST ITALY’S ISLAND FOR ‘IMMORAL’ GAY MEN

They eventually found themselv about 600km away on the island of San Domo, the ptn, The 2008 graphic novel In Italia Sono Tutti Maschi tells the story of gay people exiled unr fascismThe whole episo has been largely 's thought that nobody who endured this punishment is still alive today, and there are few tailed acunts of what went on their book, The Island and the Cy, rearchers Gianan Goretti and Tommaso Giartosi talk of dozens of men, most but not all om Catania, endurg harsh ndns on San would arrive handcuffed, and then be hoed large, spartan dormori wh no electricy or nng water.

THE FASCATG TALE OF FASCIST ITALY'S ALL-GAY ISLAND PARADISE

"We were cur bee they were lled 'the girls', " says Carmela Santoro, an islanr who was jt a child when the gay exil began to arrive. "The prisoners knew the exposure of their homosexualy would have ed shame and anguish for their fai back home eply nservative towns and of that mood is ptured a letter om the son of a Sicilian peasant, who had been trag to be a prit when he was round up.

For the first time their liv, the men were a place where they uld be themselv - ee of the stigma that normally surround them voutly Catholic 1930s this meant to the exil was explaed a rare terview wh a San Domo veteran, named only as Gieppe B - published many years ago the gay magaze, Babilonia - who said that a way the men were better off on the island. "In those days if you were a femmella [a slang Italian word for a gay man] you uldn't even leave your home, or make yourself noticed - the police would arrt you, " he said of his home town near Napl.

HOW MSOLI CREATED A GAY ISLAND COMMUNY

Some prisoners wept, Gieppe said, when the outbreak of World War II 1939 led to the end of the ternal exile regime on San Domo, and the men were returned to a kd of hoe arrt the plac where they me ptn, Tremi/MPA number of gay men were terned along wh polil prisoners on other small islands, such as Usti and Lampsa, but San Domo was the only one where all the exil were is eply ironic that the Italy of that time, they uld fd a gree of eedom only on a prison party of gay and lbian rights activists who gathered on the archipelago the other day put down a plaque memory of the exil. "This is necsary, bee nobody speaks of what happened those years, " said one of the activists, Ivan Slfarotto, a Member of the sufferg hasn't end for Italy's gay muny, he says. There is still no real social stigma attached to homophobia Italy, Slfarotto says, and the state don't extend legal rights of any kd to gay or lbian stggle for equaly go n follow the Magaze on Twter and on Facebook.

LGBTQ+ HISTORY MONTH | PUGLIA’S GAY ISLAND MUNY CREATED BY FASCISTS

From 1919 to 1945, fascist lear Beno Msoli transformed Italy om a mocracy to a totalarian dictatorship by g state police to vlently supprs all unsirable elements, cludg gay men. Towards this end, 1938, the mayor of Catania, Sicily, cid to stop the “spreadg of generatn” by roundg up gay men and shippg them off to San Domo, an island nearly 500 away.

Although homosexualy wasn’t actually illegal durg the time of Msoli’s le, was seen as a mental disorr ntradictg fascist Italy’s ial of the “new man, ” a virile man who embodied strict ary behavr.

As such, fascist ernment lears sought to intify and supprs gay men through spi gay hangouts and through a form of forced rince known as nfo (or nfement). So, that same year, the mayor and lol police round up 45 gay lol men and ported them to San Domo, an island  the Adriatic Sea’s Isole Tremi archipelago, two hours by ferry om Italy’s south-central ast. There are no known gay survivors of the San Domo nfement, but historil rearchers say gay men arrived there handcuffs and were placed dormori wh no nng water or electricy.

IL TURISMO LGBTQ | PUGLIA – ITALY’S GAY SUMMER PARADISE

Though Msoli ed other Italian islands to nfe his polil prisoners, San Domo remaed Msoli’s gay island rerved exclively for gay men. Dpe s harsh livg ndns, some ways gay men uld live more openly on Msoli’s gay island than they uld their own hometowns. Msoli’s gay island is the subject of the 2008 graphic novel In Italia Sono Tutti Maschi (In Italy Everyone Is Manly) and the 2018 mil San Domo, wrten by Tim Anfilogoff and Alan Whtaker.

Has touted Puglia as a leadg, laid-back gay hotspot and a “bohemian alternative” to the r gay scen of Mykonos and Ibiza.

To this day, the regn is regularly listed as a top-five European statn acrdg to some of the most followed gay travel fluencers, cludg the Nomadic Boys.

ITALY GAY TRAVEL

A poll on GaylyPla’s webse, one of Italy’s top sourc for LGBTQ+ travel spiratn, named Puglia as the natn’s top summer statn for Queer travelers 2021. The crowds that spill out and over the siwalks around Gallipoli’s gay bars at night are the same that h the nearby lidos at Baia Ver durg the day.

Puglia’s Bt BeachIt’s no surprise that Puglia has two of Italy’s bt gay and naturist beach bee this regn is all about the sea. Once you park your r nearby, the gay sectn of the clothg-optnal beach is still at least a 30-mute walk away.

Queer travelers ually nverge on two ma statns: Ostuni, the heart of the Valle d’Itria, and Gallipoli – also known lolly as “Gaylipoli” – Salento.

GAY ITALY TRAVEL GUI

Anima is an LGBTQ-iendly, gay-owned and operated, adult-only bed and breakfast set a betiful olive grove between Ostuni and Ceglie Msapi. La Ciclatera Sotto Il Mare is a gay-iendly fé wh a wonrful terrace overlookg Bari’s old port, and ’s the perfect place to enjoy somethg light to eat or a place where you n enjoy a pre-dner aperif. Wh s many gay clubs, diss, B&B’s and beach, the cy offers a wi choice to anyone wantg to make the most of their holiday.

GREECE: AEGEAN SEA GAY CISE

For travelers lookg to have fun one of Rome’s most betiful districts near the Colossm, Via San Gvanni Laterano, the so-lled Gay Street, is a mt: gay-iendly bars, clubs and rtrants all make for a social eveng. Not to be missed is the Gay Village, one of the most important events hosted by the cy every summer, which attracts thoands of people. Another mt-do event is the Gay Pri Para, which ually tak place June and clus a march wh tens of thoands of people attendg.

“If you love someone take them to Verona” is the Valente’s Day slogan for the cy of Romeo and Juliet, one of Italy’s most gay-iendly ci. Take a stroll to Piazza Bra to admire the Roman Amphheatre and on to the monumental San Zeno Altarpiece by Andrea Mantegna ntug to Porta Nuova, the historic center wh the elegant Lucla Cafe, a gay-iendly hang out and the perfect place for an aperif.

The historil gay hangout Catania cy center is Via Alsi, around Nievki: a bar and an alternative rtrant which has been welg to LGBT people sce the ‘70s.

For over twenty years between late June and early July, the cy is flood by the lors of the rabow flag wh a seri of iativ crowng the tradnal Catania Gay Pri Para. Taorma is one of the most gay-iendly statns on Sicily, an ial statn year round, thanks to the d climate and the foc on fun, relaxatn and joie vivre as well as the warm hospaly of the Sicilian people.

In 1938 a Sicilian mayor did the lol homosexuals an advertent favor, and all the name of curryg favor wh Msoli. Anx to appear as fascist as possible, the mayor of Catania noted the "spreadg of generatn" ed by lol gay danc and gay behavr at some of Sicily's geo beach and round up 45 guys om Catania and shipped them, handcuffed to leaky boats, 300 away, to the lovely island of San Domo the Adriatic Sea.

This year a legatn of Italian gay and lbian activists traveled to the island to pay tribute to the wartime ternal exil.

A book by rearchers Gianan Goretti and Tommaso Giartosi, The Island and the Cy, tails the verbal histori of some of the prisoners as well as those of several San Domns, who remember the perd when dozens of men, most of them gay Catanians, were terned on their islanr who was a young boy when the first prisoners began arrivg says:We were cur bee they were lled "the girls.

Gieppe B., a San Domo mate, told a part of his story some years ago to Italian gay magaze Babilonia:In those days if you were a femmenella [obvly gay] you uldn't even leave your home, or make yourself noticed -- the police would arrt the island, on the other hand, we would celebrate our Sat's days or the arrival of someone new. The Vatin Mms even has a number of homoerotic piec of art and a vis to this magnificent llectn is certaly orr.

For visors lookg for an LGBTQ+ scene, the relatively small but spired gay nightlife is only steps away om the Colism. Leonardo Da Vci’s legacy Milan is well known and many historians agree that he was a gay artist leavg his mark many masterpiec of the cy, cludg The Last Supper, hoed by the refectory of the nvent of Santa Maria lle Grazie. There are also many wonrful lser-known plac where an tert LGBTQ+ history uld lead you, such as Florence's Bargello Mm, which ntas an earlier Renaissance statue of David by the artist Donatello—the first ee-standg male nu sce Classil Antiquy, and a super-sexy homoerotic nu at that.